


Fire and ice

by Whumpster



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Agony, Blood and Injury, Coughing, Fever, Hurt/Comfort, Near Death Experiences, Pain, Painful treatment, Poisoning, Vomiting, Whump, worried friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26899009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whumpster/pseuds/Whumpster
Summary: Sihtric is stabbed and His Friends are worried he won't make it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sihtric is cut by a knife during battle and brushes it off until he starts feeling worse.

The battle was won, the air surrounding the open field damp, as if it had been raining. Had it? His system filled with the adrenalin from the battle, he hadn't even noticed how wet he was. His clothes were completely soaked, but it was the middle of summer, and the air was warm, so it didn't matter much. Sihtric wiped his blade clean on the wet grass, before putting it back into the sheath at his side.

"All limbs still attached?"

Finan came up behind him, already mounted on his horse, and ready to get back to their camp located a few miles away. Sihtric nodded and moved toward his own horse, equally ready to leave this bloodstained battlefield behind. He looked back at Finan. His friend looked tired, his hair and clothes were soaked, and there was a small cut above his right eye, but he seemed fine. Sihtric was relieved. He knew what an excellent fighter Finan was, but he always worried for his friends, they all did.

Sihtric mounted his horse, and as he did, he felt a sharp pain moving up his left arm toward his shoulder. Sitting up, he looked down at his sleeve, only to discover a fresh bloodstain wettening the already soaked fabric. He lifted the short sleeve slightly, examining the wound beneath it. The cut wasn't to deep, only a few inches long, probably a knife wound. Sihtric was surprised he hadn't noticed the pain until now. It happened sometimes that he was so preoccupied by all that was happening during a battle that he just didn't have the time to pay attention to how his body felt. He sometimes found bruises and cuts hours after returning to his tent, not even knowing where he had got them from. He frowned to himself, before letting the sleeve fall again, covering the cut. At least it wasn't bad. He would wash it and dress it once he got back to camp.

A few hours later they had all settled in. Most of the others where celebrating with food and ale, but Sihtric always took the time to wash himself clean of the blood, dirt and sweat after a battle. Since it was the middle of summer, he decided to go for a swim in the nearby stream. He was a good swimmer, and he had always enjoyed it, even as a child. The water wasn't to cold, and it felt good washing the dirt off his body. He paid his left arm some attention, examining the cut closer. It was still bleeding, though only a little, and it looked clean enough. He had brought some clean cloth with him, which he now wrapped around his arm, as tightly as he could bear, to stop the bleeding. He hissed through his teeth as he pulled the bandage tighter and tied the two ends together, using his teeth to hold one end in place. Even though the cut wasn't deep, it sure was painful. After getting dressed, Sihtric made his way back to the tent he shared with Osferth. Not surprisingly, he found the tent empty. Surely Osferth was already on his fourth or fifth pint of ale by now. Now that the adrenalin had left his system, Sihtric could feel for the first time how tired he was. His arm was aching a little. He wasn't about to try and catch up to his friends' level of intoxication. Supporting his left arm with his right hand, he lowered his body onto his bed, letting his limbs grow heavy. It wasn't long until sleep found him.

\--------

It was already late when Osferth made his way back to their tent. His steps where a little unsteady, having celebrated the victory of the battle all night. The night was dark, and the air filled with the sounds of the forrest surrounding them. He was surprised he hadn't seen Sihtric all night. The young dane was usually not one to turn down a good feast, but tonight he had been nowhere to be seen. When entering the tent, he found that Sihtric was already sound asleep. He laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head. "Sleeping like a baby" he thought cheerfully. Not bothering to remove any of his clothes, he sat down on his bed, and was almost asleep before his head had even touched the surface. 

Waking up the next morning, Osferth found himself alone once more, as the fresh morning air flowed in through the opening in the tent wall. With a pounding head and a rumbling stomach, he made his way outside to get something to eat. It was there by one of the campfires that he finally reunited with his lost room mate. Sihtric was sitting close to the fire, wrapped in a heavy blanket even though the morning air was already nice and warm.

"Cold, are you?" Osferth asked, as he sat down beside his comrade.

"Can't seem to get warm.." Sihtric muttered, pulling the blanket tighter around his shoulders.

"Didn't see you last night!" Osferth continued, but before Sihtric could answer, Finan and some other men joined them by the fire. Sihtric only half registered the conversation going on around him. He was shivering with a cold that seemed to come from his very core. Ever since waking up that morning, he had been freezing. It didn't matter that he had put on a long sleeved shirt and wrapped himself in a warm blanket. Besides feeling like a human icecube, his whole body was aching. As soon as he moved, his muscles protested angrily, and there was a dull ache in his bones. Sihtric figured that he might be coming down with something, and that the best course of action would probably be to try and sleep it off.

"I'll go get some rest.." he mumbled to no one in particular, before getting to his feet with what felt like an unnatural amount of effort.

"Sure princess!" He heard Finan teasing, "go grab some beauty sleep!"

Everyone was laughing but Sihtric didn't care. All he could focus on was getting back to bed, curling up beneath his warm blankets. He stumbled a little where he walked towards the tent, his limbs felt stiff and tired.

Even when covered by a thick rug he felt like he was caught in a snowstorm in the middle of winter. Muscles, bones and joints where hurting, and there was an uncomfortable pounding between his temples. Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over him, and he knew he had to get outside. Stumbling to his feet he made his way outside as fast as his aching limbs could manage. Almost loosing his balance, he supported himself on a nearby tree, before emptying his stomach on the ground in front of him. Exhausted, and violently shaking, he let his body slide to the ground, his back against the tree trunk. He felt horrible, unable to gather the strength to get himself back inside. That was where Osferth found him a few moments later.

"Sihtric, you all right?" asked the young monk, lowering himself to Sihtric's eye level. Seeing that his friend was very much not all right, he called out to Finan, who was just passing. Sihtric heard his friends debating amongst one another, unable to really follow the conversation. "..seems sick.." "..what's wrong with him.." "..get him back inside..".

They hoisted him up onto his feet, supporting his weight between them.

"Let's get you inside then" said Finan as they half dragged, half carried Sihtric back into the empty tent. He let out an involuntary groan as they lowered his sore body onto the surface of his bed.

"You're all right, man" Finan again, speaking in a reassuring tone. But Sihtric felt far from alright, there was a high-pitched ringing in his ears, and his insides where still in turmoil, even though his stomach was bound to be completely empty by now. His left arm was throbbing ominously, and he was no longer feeling cold. Instead, he felt as if there was a fire blazing somewhere deep inside of his battered body.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhtred learns that Sihtric is sick and tries to figure out what to do to help him.

"Could it be the sickness?" Osferth asked in a worried voice.

"No idea.." answered Finan, "either way we need to get Uhtred right now!"

"I'll go!"

Osferth left to go seek out their lord, and in the meantime, Finan tried to get a closer look at Sihtric's body. It wasn't long until he found the bandage covering the fresh wound on his arm. Unwrapping the cloth carefully, he went on to examine what was hidden underneath. Sihtric cried out in pain as the fabric was pulled off the open wound.

"You're ok" Finan said for the second time, placing a calming hand on his friends' shoulder as he pulled off the last of the bandage. He let out a sharp hiss through his teeth when he laid eyes on the wound.

"Looks nasty this one.." he said as he saw the full extent of his friends' injury. The cut was no longer clean, as it had been the night before, but covered in pus, and some greenish liquid. There where dark lines under the skin, travelling upwards towards Sihtric's shoulder. Finan cursed to himself.

Osferth soon came back, bringing Uhtred with him.

"Found the culprit" said Finan, trying to sound less worried than he actually was. "Seems he got this during the battle yesterday".

Uhtred moved over to get a closer look.

"Shit! That looks awful" he said, frowning at the sight of the infected wound.

Osferth felt Sihtric's forehead with his hand.

"His skin is on fire, lord!" he said, looking at Uhtred with a troubled expression in his eyes.

"He needs a healer!" replied Uhtred, "There is a settlement a few hours north, go see if you can find some help there!"

Osferth wasted no time, leaving immediately. Pearls of sweat had started to form around Sihtric's temples, the raging fire within him growing ever wilder, his body trying to fight off whatever it was that didn't belong in his system.

"He's gonna be sick again.." said Uhtred, as Sihtric let out a muffled groan.

Finan was quick, fetching a bucket with his left hand and at the same time helping Sihtric to sit up as best he could. Sihtric retched, his tired body trying to get rid of the thing that was ailing him. Finan held him up as he emptied his already empty stomach once more. When he had finished, his upper body more or less fell back onto the matress, completely drained. Uthred was looking on from the corner of the tent, his arms crossed, a concerned look on his face.

"You're fine, you'll be fine" Finan whispered, more to himself than anyone else. Sick people had always made him extremely nervous, and seeing his friend in this condition made his stomach turn in panic. Sihtric looked up, seeing his friend's face swim in and out of focus. He was so very tired, too tired to focus, too tired to speak or answer, too tired to care what they did or what happened to him. All he could feel was the pain, the nausea and the burning fire inside him. His shirt was clinging to his warm, feverish body, strands of hair glued to the sides of his face.

"Get some cold water from the stream" Uhtred ordered Finan "We need to cool him down".

Finan went outside to fetch the water and Uhtred replaced him beside Sihtric's bed. He tried giving him something to drink, which only resulted in more retching and more vomiting into the bucket next to the bed. Just as Uhtred eased Sihtric's body back onto the surface below, Finan returned with a jug full of cold water. Dipping a piece of cloth into the liquid, Uhtred began wiping some of the sweat off his friends face and neck. He pressed the cold fabric against Sihtric's hot forehead. It felt good, at least for a while, until little by little Sihtric's body began shivering again, the cold ice returning to his bones, replacing the blazing fire. Sihtric could feel his body shaking uncontrollably, more and more energy draining from him with every passing minute.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Osferth returns with a healer, Sihtric takes a turn for the worse.

It was late afternoon when Osferth finally returned. Sihtric had been floating in and out of conciousness for the past couple of hours, his body burning with a fever that would not break. They hadn't been able to give him anything to drink without it resulting in violent vomiting, and eventually they had stopped trying, not wanting to cause their friend more discomfort than he was already feeling. With him, Osferth had brought the healer from the nearby settlement, an old woman who looked more like a witch than anything else. She took one look at Sihtric where he lay, turned her head and spat on the ground. She mumbled something inaudible, then moved closer to take a look at his wound. Even though he was barely concious, Sihtric still winced, trying to move away from her when she undid his bandages and examined the cut closely. She put her face close to the wound, stuck her finger into the greenish liquid seeping out from underneath his skin, then put the finger to her lips, before cursing loudly.  
"The blade that cut him was poisoned or possibly cursed" the old lady exclaimed sourly.  
"What can be done to help him?" asked Uhtred in a demanding tone.  
"I'll need to prepare some herbs" the healer muttered, getting to her feet, "Just..keep him alive until I get back".  
"How..?" Finan began saying, but the old lady had already left.

\--------

Finan, Osferth and Uhtred took turns staying by Sihtric's side. When the night came, Finan volunteered to stay up watching their friend while the others got some much needed sleep. It looked like Sihtric was sleeping, but wether or not he was, it was far from peaceful. Sweating profoundly, he was jerking back and forth, mumbling in his sleep, shivering from time to time, at other times whimpering or groaning. At one point, he seemed to be having a muffled, whispered conversation with someone, who wasn't actually there. Finan feared his friend was walking the borderlands between life and death. He continued to dab Sihtric's forehead and neck with a damp cloth, trying as best he could to keep the young danes' temperature down. Approaching midnight, Sihtric's breathing all of a sudden became shallow and ragged.  
"Sihtric?" Finan touched his shoulder lightly.  
Suddenly, Sihtric gasped loudly, the sudden sound causing Finan to jump back in his seat. Sihtric coughed harshly, retched a few times, groaned, then turned to his side, where dark blood started to trickle out of the corner of his mouth. Shocked by what was happening, Finan put an arm behind Sihtric's back, raising him up into a seated position, his head falling forward onto his chest. Coughing weakly, Sihtric struggled to remain seated while Finan reached for the bucket on the floor, placing it on Sihtric's lap. He coughed a second time, and a gush of blood splashed onto the bottom of the bucket.  
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.." Finan mumbled in panic, not knowing what to do next. He helped Sihtric to lie back on the bed, got up and started pacing the small area of the tent, running his fingers through his hair while watching his friend. He decided he needed to go and wake Uhtred, being sure his lord would want to know Sihtric had taken a turn for the worse. When Finan got out of the tent, he found Uhtred and Osferth, already awake, sitting by one of the campfires. Not having been able to sleep, they had both decided to stay up, in case Sihtric needed them.  
"He is..it's bad" Finan said when they saw him approaching. Both got up in an instant, making their way hastily towards Sihtric's tent. Seeing the blood staining Sihtric's chin and the neckline of his shirt stopped them both dead in their tracks.  
"Jesus christ" Osferth exclaimed, drawing closer to the bed, seeing the contents of the bucket sitting on the dirt floor. Sihtric mumbled something inaudible, and Uhtred moved closer to hear what his friend was trying to say.  
"M-my s-sword.." Sihtric whispered, suddenly looking up, meeting his lords' eyes with a stern expression.  
"Not yet!" Uhtred replied stubbornly, trying to steady his voice that felt threateningly weak. Sihtric looked at his lord as sternly as he could, given his current condition, using the last strenght he could muster.  
" MY. SWORD." he said as clearly as he could. Talking took all his remaining strenght and he could feel his eyes falling shut again. Uhtred had understood him. He knew perfectly well what his friend was trying to tell him. Being a dane, Sihtric needed to die with his sword in hand. Him asking for his sword could only mean one thing, Sihtric was ready to go. Uhtred buried his face in his hands, pressing his knuckles hard into his forehead. He knew he had to obey his dying friends' wish, he just.. Getting up from his seat, his heart so heavy it felt like it was going to sink right through his body and drop onto the floor, he got Sihtric's sword from its place next to the opening in the tent wall. He placed it on top of his friends' torso, putting his hand on the grip.  
"Take it" Uthred whispered, "And know that you have always served me well".  
Finan looked at him in disbelief.

From now on Sihtric was no longer concious, the only sign of life being the shallow, uneven rising and falling of his chest. But even though he was barely hanging on, his fingers remained firmly closed around the grip of his sword. The hours passed slowly as the three friends sat watching the dying man before them. At one point, Osferth was sure he was no longer breathing, but then suddenly, he drew a deep breath, which was then followed by a few more shallow ones.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sihtric is treated by the healer and finds it hard to bear the pain.

Dawn was already breaking when the old woman returned. She had brought with her a whole bunch of different herbs, which she now ground up and put into a pot that she placed upon the fire outside. A while later she had created a thick, boiling paste, as well as a darkbrown, strong, herbal infusion. She returned to the tent carrying one pot in each hand.  
"I'm gonna need the two of you to hold him down" she said with a sour look in Finan and Osferth's direction. Finan wondered briefly what the point was in holding Sihtric, who hadn't moved in at least five hours, down, but he wasn't about to argue with a woman as ill tempered as this one, and especially one who was about to try and save his friend's life. Finan leaned heavily across Sihtric's legs while Osferth held down his upper body. Taking the pot with the boiling hot paste the healer began unbinding Sihtric's wound for the second time. If possible, the laceration looked even worse than it had on the previous day, his flesh looking necrotic, and black lines travelling along his veins.  
"This is going to hurt" the old woman said gravely, "We need to burn out the bad".  
Without second thought, she dipped a spatula into the nearly boiling mixture, and applied it to Sihtric's tattered flesh.

\------

Jolted back to conciousness by the sudden, red hot pain, Sihtric cried out in pain, panic taking a hold of him. He tried to get away from the tormenting sensation only to discover that he couldn't move, held down as he was, by Finan och Osferth's relentless arms. He gasped, then lost his breath, while trying to make sense of the world of pain he had woken up to. Suddenly a blurry face showed up in his field of view swimming back and forth. He tried to focus his eyes enough to see who it was standing before him. Uhtred. His lord put a strong, warm hand on the back of his sweaty neck kneeling beside him so that their foreheads touched as he leaned forward towards Sihtric.  
"Breathe!" reminded Uhtred, "Just breathe, that's all you need to do"  
Sihtric tried to focus on something other than the horrible burning pain in his left arm, trying to steady his ragged, gasping respiration. He was shaking uncontrollably, his body to weak to fight the involuntary spasms. Regaining conciousness only made him feel all the torment his body had been trying to escape. Everything hurt. His stomach felt like a raw, open ulcer, his muscles where cramping painfully, and his head felt as if someone had split it in half with a battle axe. Moaning in pain, Sihtric half whished that he had actually died last night when he had asked Uhtred to fetch his sword. He had been ready for it, and this new world of torture he had just entered was almost to much to bear.  
"Good!" said the old woman who was apparently a healer "Now that he's awake he can drink this".  
She handed a small bowl of the herbal infusion to Uhtred, who was the one closest to Sihtric's head.  
"And you two can let go of him now" she added towards Finan and Osferth, who had remained at their positions holding Sihtric's arms and legs.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sihtric is given a potion and finally feels a bit better. Uhtred realizes how much his men mean to him, and how terrified he is of loosing any one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided if this is the last chapter or not, the ending is still a work in progress.
> 
> Update:  
> There will be another chapter. I came up with an ending last night when I couldn't sleep. :-D

Holding his friend's head up, Uhtred offered him the drink. Sihtric could feel the scent of the thick, strong brew, a new bout of sickness coming over him. With a tremendous amount of effort, he took a deep breath and let the lukewarm liquid fill his mouth. Uniting with the mangled insides of his stomach, the strong potion caused another surge of unbearable pain. Sihtric choked and started coughing violently, once more spewing up a handful of blood, that splattered all over the front of his shirt.

"Slowly! Don't choke him" the healer exclaimed irritably, with an angry look towards Uhtred.

Uhtred tried again, giving Sihtric the drink in small sips instead. It still felt like acid to Sihtric's lacerated insides, but this time he was able to keep most of it down. Exhausted by the exertion, Sihtric fell back onto his bed panting.

"What now?" Finan asked impatiently.

"Now, we wait" replied the healer gravely.

\--------

As none of them had slept the previous night, Finan, Uhtred and Osferth decided to take turns sitting with Sihtric again, so the other two could get some rest. Uhtred who could see how exhausted his men where, ordered the two of them away while he took the first watch. Sihtric seemed to be sleeping, worn out as he was, following the ordeal of the past couple of days. He was still burning up, the fever had not yet broken, but Uhtred knew this was part of the process of fighting the poison. There wasn't much he could do, so he continued dabbing Sihtric's forehead with a damp cloth, trying to ease his friend's discomfort. 

Around noon, Sihtric slowly opened his eyes. Waking up, a wave of pain immediately washed over him, making him frown as a muffled groan slipped past his lips.

"Sihtric?" Uhtred who saw that his friend was waking up, tried to make contact. He moved closer, holding a mug up to Sihtric's lips "Try to drink some" he encouraged softly, while supporting Sihtric's head with his free hand. Sihtric took a small sip of the healer's potion. His stomach protested violently, it felt like being stabbed repeatedly from the inside. It took all the willpower he had not to gag, but at least he was able to keep it all down this time. He frowned and tried to breathe slowly through the pain and nausea. His whole body was in uproar, fighting a violent battle against the poison in his veins. Sihtric cleared his throat weakly, not sure his voice was going to work.

"Uhtred.." he mouthed only to be cut off by a violent fit of coughing, that rattled his weakened body. Uhtred moved closer, a concerned look on his face as he half expected his friend to repeat the request he had made last night.

"Thank you.. for handing me my sword.. last night" he croaked, looking up into his lords' face. "I thought..I thought.."

Uhtred silenced him with a hand on Sihtric's shoulder. There was no need to say anything, they both knew that no 'thank you' was really needed, they both knew that each of them would have done the same thing for the other. A lump so big it threatened to remove his ability to speak all together was forming in Uhtred's throat.

"I would never let you go to Nifleheim" he reassured the younger man "And I meant what I said, you have always been one of my best men". Tears where burning in the corners of Uhtred's eyes, but he blinked them away.

"How do you feel?" he continued.

The effort of talking had drained Sihtric's strength, beads of sweat once more forming along his hairline. 'How did he feel?' Like absolute shit, was the truthfull answer. He was in agony. His stomach was burning and cramping, and the nausea was as constant as it was severe. His muscles were aching and his back felt stiff and tender. The persistent pain in his left arm was so terrible that he almost wished it would just fall off so he could be rid of it.

"Awful" he confessed "Though.. a bit better.. than before". A ghost of a smile travelled across Sihtric's greyish face. He wanted Uhtred to think that he was improving. He couldn't bear causing his lord this much trouble. It took a tremendous amount of effort to stay awake, and Sihtric could feel himself drift off. Before any of them could say anything more, he had fallen asleep again.

Uhtred looked down at the young man. During the past couple of years, his three closest men had become more like brothers to him than anything else, replacing the bond he had once shared with his brother Ragnar. The prospect of loosing any one of them was more terrifying to him than he had ever allowed himself to realize. Seeing Sihtric in this condition, he could feel just how scared he was of the risk that one of them might be taken from him prematurely. A risk that was all to present considering their line of work.

"Don't you fucking dare leaving me this way!" he whispered, knowing perfectly well that him saying so wouldn't make the slightest difference. Hearing a noise behind him, he turned his head only to see Finan standing there, arms crossed over his chest.

"Any change?" asked the irishman in a low voice, before entering the small, dimly lit tent.

"Not really.." replied Uhtred, "Though he claimed to be feeling a bit better".

Finan seemed pleased with this information, sitting down on the bed that usually belonged to Osferth, a faint grin on his face.

"See", he said, "He'll be fine, I knew it".

'He has to be' Uhtred thought to himself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actual ending.

It took another night for Sihtric's fever to finally go away. By the following morning, his temperature was back to normal, and he looked better than he had the past couple of days. Exhausted as he was, he spent most of the day sleeping, though everyone could see that he was now coming out of the woods. The elderly healer seemed pleased with the progress her patient was making.

"You can get on without me now" she stated, packing up her few belongings and leaving for home.

\--------

Next morning, Sihtric woke early, only to see Osferth still fast asleep in the bed next to his. Having slept for most of the previous day, Sihtric was wide awake. His back was supported by a few rolled up blankets that one of his friends must have put there before leaving last night. To his great relief, the pain in his bones and muscles had subsided, along with the debilitating headache. He yearned for something to drink, his mouth felt so dry he could hardly swallow, but someone had placed the water jug out of his reach, and either way, he didn't trust his weakened arms would be able to hold it up even if he could have reached it. His left arm was next to useless, aching and swollen. Sihtric looked down at his trembling hands. He hated how weak his body had become in the past few days. He suspected that he had already lost a bit of weight, his usually tight shirt hanging off of his shoulders. He knew that it would probably take weeks to regain the strenght he had so quickly lost. With a deep sigh, he rested his head on the blankets behind him. On second thought, he could probably use some more sleep after all. Shortly after this thought had crossed his mind, he was once more sleeping soundly.

\--------

"He looks better, doesn't he?"

Sihtric could hear Finan's voice somewhere above his head. Prying his eyes open, he saw the irishman hovering over him.

"G'morning princess, or should I say, good afternoon?" Finan teased with a wide grin. Studying the light coming in through the opening in the tent wall, Sihtric could see it was already late and the daylight was fading. Frustrated he realised he had once more slept through almost an entire day. His mouth was dryer than ever, his tongue feeling like a piece of parchment. Luckily, this time someone was there to get him something to drink.

"Wha-dder!" Sihtric mouthed, the word coming out barely a whisper. His throat ached when he tried to talk.

"Huh?!" asked Finan, moving a bit closer.

"Wa-ter!" Sihtric tried again, this time successful in pronouncing the word.

Finan hurried to pour him a mug of fresh water, holding it up to his lips so he could drink. He wasn't prepared for the horrible burning sensation the water would cause once it reached his stomach.

"Ouw!" he groaned, grimacing.

Finan shot him a worried look.

"What's wrong!?" he demanded.

Sihtric put a hand to his midsection, waiting for the pain to subside before he could speak. When it eventually did, he answered.

"My stomach. It hurts like a bastard."

Finan put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He couldn't help but smirk a little at his friend's choice of word. Uhtred, who was the one Finan had been talking to earlier, had taken a seat on Osferth's empty bed.

"Sihtric, we should take a look at your wound" he said, with a sympathetic look on his face, knowing how much pain it usually caused to remove the bandages. He moved on to unbind the cloth wrapped around Sihtric's left upper arm. To everyones surprise, not least to Sihtric's, removing the fabric only caused a minor pinch this time. He looked down at his arm, shocked by what had been hidden underneath the bandages. When he had last seen the wound it had been a clean-looking, shallow cut. This was something different entirely. The laceration looked deep, the surrounding skin discoloured and burned by the healers boiling remedy, a black and green scab forming in the middle of it all. However, even he could see that the mess he was looking at was healing, the abscence of pain telling him as much.

"Looks a whole lot better mate" said Finan who was leaning over to get a better look. He could see the shock and disbelief on Sihtric's face, feeling that it would be appropriate to try and comfort his younger comrade.

"It really does" Uhtred reassured, while grabbing some clean cloth. Applying a generous layer of the paste the healer had left, he dressed the wound once more with the clean bandage.

"I'll get Osferth to bring you some food, you should try and eat something", Uhtred said, while wiping the leftover paste off his hands with another piece of cloth.

Sihtric wanted to object, his stomach was still aching ominously, but part of him wanted to please his friends who had done so much for him, and part of him was eager to try and regain some of his lost strenght, so he held his tongue. Though he realised eating was probably gonna suck. Osferth arrived a while later, carrying a bowl of hot porridge, and a mug of ale. He rearranged the blankets behind Sihtric's back so the latter could sit up more straight, then handed him the bowl and a spoon, before taking a seat on his own bed.

Trying a spoonful of porridge, Sihtric realised two things. Firstly, the sensation of water hitting his stomach had been nothing compared to the excruciating pain that food caused, and second, eating made him terribly nauseous. He groaned, leaned his head back and closed his eyes, trying to make the horrible sensations go away. It took several minutes of deep breaths before he could regain controll over his uproaring insides.

"No food then?" Osferth asked, an apologetic look on his face.

"I think..I'll stick..to a liquid diet..for a few more days" Sihtric gasped through the waves of pain pulsating through his midsection.

"Right" Osferth agreed, releasing the bowl from his friend's clamped hands. Ale was better tolerated by his mangled insides. Drinking a few mugs of the alcoholic liquid filled Sihtric with a comfortable warmth, leaving him relaxed and completely exhausted.

He soon fell asleep, sleeping until morning.

\----------

It would be five whole days before Sihtric was ready to finally leave his bed. Refusing Finan's offer to help him, he slowly raised himself into a seated position, the muscles in his injured left arm protesting against the unaccustomed movement. He put his feet on the dirt floor, feeling the surface with his toes. Everything was spinning violently, so Sihtric took a few deep breaths, eyes closed, to regain his balance. Finan who could see how his friend was struggling, offered to help him stand, and this time Sihtric knew better than to refuse the assistance. Supported by Finan, who was shocked at how much weight his friend had lost during the past week, he slowly stood up on shaking legs. Sihtric cursed loudly at how weak his body had become, which made Finan grin apologetically.

"Don't worry mate, you'll be back to fighting in no time" he reassured.

Slowly the two of them moved toward the waterline. It was only a few yards, but the distance felt like a hundred miles to Sihtric. Exhausted, he slid towards the ground, Finan helping him to sit down with his back against the trunk of an old tree. He yearned to wash the dried sweat of the past week off of his body. Finan helped him to get out of his clothes and into the water. It felt wonderful, the cold water washing away not only the dirt, but also the anxiety that his sickness had caused. He was thankful to be alive and thankful to be able to repay all his friends had done for him during the time he was sick. Refreshed by the water, his head felt clear for the first time in a long time, and a wide grin covered his face as his eyes met Finan's. The irishman was grinning to. He knew now that his friend was going to be fine, and he hoped that the horrible events of the past week would soon become a distant memory, the only thing left to remind them being the ugly scar forming on Sihtric's upper arm.


End file.
